James Spader to Play Ultron in Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’

Emmy-award winning actor James Spader (Boston Legal, The Practice) has been cast as the villain Ultron in the highly anticipated Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The film is the sequel to 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers. Joss Whedon – the writer/director of The Avengers – returns as the writer/director for this second installment. In the movie the heroes are once again brought together to face one of their greatest enemies, Ultron.

At Comic-Con earlier this summer a clip announcing the film’s title featured Iron Man’s mask transforming in Ultron’s head, leading some to speculate that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark will end up being the one who creates Ultron. This would be a departure from Marvel comic book history where Ultron is created by Hank Pym, also known as Ant-Man.

Spader, who starred with Downey in the 1987 film Less Than Zero, is also returning to network television this fall on NBC’s The Blacklist. Last year he starred in Steven Speilberg’s Lincoln.

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is slated for a May 1, 2015 theatrical release.